as well as the hardtops? in the twisties, on the x-cross roads,

What are your thoughts?

thanks in advance

Scout d

:smile:

 

Likely not. The convertible would be very difficult to make as stiff as the hatchbacks, It likely will suffer the fate of being reffered to as a girly car.
RAT

 

>>Likely not. The convertible would be very difficult to make as stiff as the hatchbacks, It likely will suffer the fate of being reffered to as a girly car.
>>RAT

Agree.

 

Is the pope Catholic?

Its a MINI it MUST handle.

 

usually convertibles are never as good handling as their hardtop counterparts

then again the s2000 is a very good handling car :smile:

 

who cares?

 

>>who cares?


the people who want to buy the cabrio and want to take them auto-xing :smile:

 

As it's not a car built from the ground up as a convertible, like the Miata, Boxster or S2000, it will suffer from chasis flex and added weight. As much is true for all drop top variants of their original hard top brethern. Doesn't mean it won't be a hoot and a half to drive. I'm actually HEAVILY leaning towards moving to a MINI Open S, if for no other reason than to prove it won't be a girly car, but rather a drop top beast.

Given the rigid floor base of the Cooper, I don't think it will be too flexy...if anything I just think it will be 3000+ lbs. Too heavy and thus slower and more prone to body roll.

R

 

I believe the question was will it handle "as well". And although it likely will handle very well, it will not handle as well.

 

I think its ugly as well. The whole thing that makes the MINI an icon, is the two tone hard top roof. You can spot it from a mile away. I think the cabrio kinda kills that. Just MO.

 

I had a local professional (...a MCS owner, BTW) popping out some hail damage from the roof of my MINI. He had done several MINIs, and commented that under the headliner there's a very impressive amount of bracing...almost the equivalent of a roll cage, he said. Theoretically, the MINI body is crazy-rigid, so I can only hope those smart people at BMW have engineered comparable rigidity into the cabrio. Everyone knows cabrios often suffer in this regard. We'll see!

_________________
'03 IB/W Cooper

 

>>I think its ugly as well. The whole thing that makes the MINI an icon, is the two tone hard top roof. You can spot it from a mile away. I think the cabrio kinda kills that. Just MO.


everybody has thier opinions
i dont like it very much either :smile:

but its cool

 

(below are images of the Madness MINI with carbon fiber roof panel replacing sunroof)



And Ants, no the whole thing that makes MINI/Mini an icon is the size, price and racing acclaim. Sure the flat roof is a neat quirk, but hardly the only thing that makes it a MINI/Mini. And geeze, way to dump on cars you'll be selling. Or are you no longer a motoring person???

R

 

:smile: :smile: I buy what I like, how it looks, etc. And I can't wait to get the Rag Top MINI...... :smile: :smile: :smile:

Chow!

Donna
donna@dcmetrominis.org

 

>>(below are images of the Madness MINI with carbon fiber roof panel replacing sunroof)
>>
>>
>>
>>And Ants, no the whole thing that makes MINI/Mini an icon is the size, price and racing acclaim. Sure the flat roof is a neat quirk, but hardly the only thing that makes it a MINI/Mini. And geeze, way to dump on cars you'll be selling. Or are you no longer a motoring person???
>>
>>R


Im a state trooper.

 

Every time I see this picture of the CF roof I just shake my head and say "WHY". Way to much trouble to save weight. Should of bought it without the sunroof if you wanted it to weigh less. Some people have way to much time on their hands. To each is own.

 

>>...almost the equivalent of a roll cage, he said.

Didn't check myself, but the guy was only referring to the non-sunroof option. According to him, the sunroof config is a whole different deal....at least from a repair standpoint, I suppose.

 

I don’t think it will handle as well because the structural integrity is compromised by not having the roof.

As far as a MINI convertible though, Mini was a car that people would mold and shape into the statement they wanted to make. No difference now. I personally would not want one, but I don’t feel it looks bad from the pictures I’ve seen.

Try these Mini’s.

 

I'd say the only drawback would be the added weight. I think the frame is strong enough to handle it. I mean how many cars do you know of have the rear wheel come off the ground when you jack up the front wheel? There is very little body roll and I don't think much of that has to do with the roof.
-Chris

 

>>I'd say the only drawback would be the added weight. I think the frame is strong enough to handle it. I mean how many cars do you know of have the rear wheel come off the ground when you jack up the front wheel? There is very little body roll and I don't think much of that has to do with the roof.
>>-Chris

Just a slight technical correction here - since the Mini uses a unibody type construction there is no frame to speak of. The body panels and formed sheet metal form the structural foundation of the car rather than a steel welded frame you might see on older cars or some race cars.

With that said, it is true there are not many cars that the rear wheel comes off the ground when the front wheel is raised. Some of the cars that do it, however, do it not because of tremendous body stiffness but lack of available droop in their rear suspension (my old VW Scirocco with a BTS-172 kit comes to mind).